Customer Reviews

Beautiful Girls (Widescreen)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

How much this film cost to make I do not know, but it must have cost a small fortune even by Hollywood standards.It is crammed with stars,Matt Dillon,Timothy Hutton,Rosie O'Donnell,Michael Rapaport,Mira Sorvina,Uma Thurman and last but not least the young Natalie Portman, and many others who make an appearance.

It is a film of many parts, but mainly about a group of friends who meet again for a school reunion. It is also about first love, convincingly portrayed by Natalie Portman who plays a thirteen year old - wise in her ways but full of all that innocence and promise and hope of the young.

This film has been called 'middle of the road' and some aspects of its plot deserve this description but as a whole it rises above this classification. I have watched this film many times. It never ceases to entertain and to delight

I just wanted to inform Amazon that I never recieved this product and would like to know if someone can contact me about this.

Ken Brosowsky

Ted Demme has offered us a sweet reunion of small town, New Englander, twenty-somethings. There is some Big Chill here 1990's style, but for the most part, the guys that stayed home and married or almost married are blue-collar, beer drinking, and chick panting types. High school big man, Matt Dillon is still respected for his womanizing skills. Tim Hutton has a girl back in New York City, but his musical career is getting old and his thirteen-year-old neighbor girl attracts. The relationship between a young man and an adolescent could have been really creepy, but there's some deft writing and directing, so we enjoy this impossibility for a few hours. Uma Thurman vamps as the perfect chick. Each of the single guys gives her a rush, but she's just out of reach as any apparition. My wife really liked this one. Maybe there's more appeal to chicks in this flick because Rosie O'Donnell in a minor part sure makes a mockery of men and their desires.

I saw this film once before but, unawares, rented it again and, even though I realized I had seen the movie previously after it started, I enjoyed even more the second time. This is quality movie-making: good production values, a good script, good acting. I even ordered a Neil Diamond album after watching the "impromtu" singing of Sweet Caroline in a fun bar scene. Ensemble acting at its best, we have Rose O'Donnell, Uma Thurman and Matt Dillon featured along witn talented others. Timothy Hutton is perhaps the most interesting character in the film as a lost soul and his 30-something character's "romance" with thirteen-year-old Marty played by Natalie Portman is truly remarkable. I don't know what federal laws I was breaking but I was in love with Marty and I secretly hoped that Hutton's character returned to get her when she turned eighteen. What an amazing adult woman in a thirteen-year-old's body! They had a fascinating and strange relationship. Uma Thurman is good as the unavailable spirit who visits and then disappears. Her line about looking for a man who can say (and supposedly mean) just four words ("Good night, sweet girl") was memorable. Rosie O'Donnell's rant about men and their attraction for the false and superficial beauty of media images of women was hilarious and almost show-stopping. Lots to like here.

Humphrey Bogart would say the Beautiful Girls in this film are the "stuff dreams are made of." They stand for the idealized version of women that men seek and never find, the constant promise of a better woman just around the corner that keeps men from being able to commit to the real women in their lives.

The principle men with that "beautiful girls" hang-up are Willie (Hutton), Birdy (Dillon) and Paul (Rappaport). They hold on to that dream of a better life with a better woman and thus sabotage (consciously or not) all their relationships. Birdy clings to the memories of his high school flame, Paul papers his walls with supermodels and names his dog Elle McPherson, and Willie just wants something beautiful in his life. Although in a relationship with a nice-looking attorney, Willie grudgingly acknowledges she would only score a 7.5 on a 1-10 scale.

While not actively looking to replace his "above-average-but-not-great" girlfriend, Willie stumbles into the most charming and memorable sub-plot of the film: his relationship with his thirteen year old neighbor Marty (a totally engaging Natalie Portman). Willie sees in her all the possibilities he dreams about: she is kind, sensitive and dazzles him with her knowledge of psychology and Shakespeare. When she develops a teenage crush on him, Willie must consider the possibility of waiting for this great girl to become an even greater woman. Even though parallels are drawn to the pedophilic exploits of Roman Rolanski and Jerry Lee Lewis, there is nothing creepy or sexual about Willie's feelings for the young girl.

The stories play out in a picturesque New England town, deep into a frozen winter. All the guys are re-uniting for their ten-year high school reunion and are forced to deal with the personal revelations accompanying that important moment. Presented with a karaoke bar's dream soundtrack and told with a thoughtful narrative that is poignant and touching without being sappy and sentimental, Beautiful Girls is a wonderful exploration into the love lives of 20-something males.

Ween AND Morphine are on the soundtrack. Enough said.

I saw the beginning of this movie on cable and then got HOOKED and had to finish watching the entire movie even though I had two young, restless children in the house. The story is about Timothy Hutton returning home for a reunion but the movie shows little of the reunion event. The story is based around the lives of the characters' everyday lives. The casting is terrific--the acting is superb--especially Natalie Portman. The screenplay is fantastic--the dialogue is witty, natural, realistic and interesting. No cliches in the dialogues. This is a movie I could watch repeatedly and still find it amusing because the screenplay is so good.

I just saw this movie and it was so great I laughed so hard and really thought that this could be what will happen when me and my friends come back for our high school reunions. The story is that this guy comes back from the big city to his hometown and finds out that he is the only person who has left the town to pursue a career. I thought that the idea behind "Beautiful" was the fact that on the inside we are all beautiful no matter how horendous we look on the outside. I still cannot get over when the guys meet Uma Thurman's charactor in the bar and they tell her that Noah Emmerich's charactor can play the piano so he goes over there and begins playing the song Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond and everyone in the bar sings along. I would recommend this to people ages 15 and over because there is some sexual dialouge and images of nudity. Also just so you all know the charactor that Natalie Portman portrayed was so much like a normal teenager in every way. I hope that this review has helped you in making a decision in this motion picture.

This movie (set in Upstate NY) is the story of a bunch of friends gathering for their high school reunion, but so much more too...old boyfriends and girlfriends, new loves, fun scenes, flirtations, etc. One of my all time favorites, must have been a sleeper in the theatre but one I recommend to everyone I know. I originally watched it because it had Matt Dillon in it (one of his better roles) but keep coming back because of the storyline and the soundtrack. Everyone I have ever told about this movie has liked it. The music in it is great - a lot of the movie revolves around the music and very much helps to tell the story. If you are out of high school to any age adult, you should see this movie. It definitely has something for everyone it it!

I love this movie in oh so many ways, most of which are much too subtle for me to express in my current state. But I just had to respond, at least, to all these reviews saying this takes place in the Midwest or Minnesota. Where are you getting this from? Willie leaves the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC - telling his boss his bus trip is 5 or 6 hours. And in the bar, Paul talks about the guys in the bar who go to The Cape for 2 weeks out of every summer. Sorry folks - this takes place somewhere in Central Mass. In fact, I think I actually read that somewhere anyway. A great film - great acting - I disagree with all the criticisms - but I won't go into them all now.